1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display apparatus used in a device, such as a timepiece and calendar apparatus or an instrument meter, and an electronic device equipped with the display apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) Publication No. 54-024674 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,628), an electronic watch is known. In this watch, when a motor serving as a driving section rotates in the forward direction, a date wheel and a month wheel are not rotated even when a time gear train rotates in the forward direction and moves the hands. When the motor rotates in the reverse direction, the date wheel and the month wheel are rotated via the time gear train, whereby date and month displays are changed and updated.
In this type of display apparatus of an electronic watch, dates, from the 1st to the 31st, are displayed on the date wheel. Therefore, when the 31st day is displayed at the end of the “small month” (consisting of 30 days, i.e., smaller by one day than 31 days) the 31st day needs to be detected by a calendar detector mechanism, whereby a control circuit controls so that the date is changed once more by feeding the date wheel. Thus, the display apparatus of the electronic watch includes a restricting lever that restricts the rotation of the month wheel, a conductive pin that is provided in a position where the date wheel displays the 31st, and a switch spring that has an insulated portion and comes in and out of contact with the conductive pin. As a result of this configuration, the 31st day which should not be included in the small month is detected.
In this type of display apparatus of an electronic watch, when the month wheel displays “large month” (consisting of 31 days), the restricting lever outwardly pushes up the insulated portion of the switch spring, whereby the switch spring does not come in contact with the conductive pin. When the month wheel displays a “small month”, the restricting lever does not push the insulated portion of the switch spring, whereby the switch spring comes in contact with the conductive pin. As a result, the 31st day which should not be included in the small month is detected.
However, to detect the 31st day which should not be included in the small month, this type of display apparatus for an electronic watch requires various components, such as the restricting lever that restricts the rotation of the month wheel, the conductive pin that is provided in the position where the date wheel displays the 31st, and the switch spring that has the insulated portion and comes in and out of contact with the conductive pin. As a result, the large number of components makes the display apparatus complicated to assemble and easily leads to malfunctions.
An object of the present invention is to provide a display apparatus having a simple structure that can easily and appropriately change a plurality of displays by forward rotation and reverse rotation of a driving section, and an electronic device including the display apparatus.